Month: November 2011

So I’m all worded out. At just over 27,000 words, I’m done for the month. Quite an achievement, obviously not as good as I hoped, but I’ll deal with what went wrong, and what went right, in another post. I thought, since […]

So I’m all worded out. At just over 27,000 words, I’m done for the month. Quite an achievement, obviously not as good as I hoped, but I’ll deal with what went wrong, and what went right, in another post.

I thought, since you’ve come along for the ride, that I might give you a taste of what I was writing about. As I said in an earlier post, I changed my story within the first few days, and I’m pretty happy with what I have down for the new one.

I think it has the potential for a life after Nano, and I have most of the major scenes that I imagined written. The plan is to put it away until after Christmas and concentrate on something else. When I pick it up again, I’ll go through with a red pen and get rid of anything that immediately doesn’t fit, and then re-write it, filling in the gaps, and bulking it out to (hopefully) around 70,000 words in the first few months of the new year.

Until then though, here’s a small extract from my Nano novel. (Note: this is unedited – it is exactly as originally written, so apologies for bad sentence structure and typos).

Just a bit of background – Quinn and Luke are best friends in their final year of high school. As the result of an accident, Quinn has ended up in Luke’s body. This scene takes place when Quinn finally returns to her own body. Unfortunately, this means that Luke has to die. This is the scene that ensues.

Everything came flooding back to me last night. I woke in the early hours of this morning to a feeling of dread. I was sweating, my heart palpitating and my breathing ragged. The doctor was sitting at the foot of my bed.

“Welcome back, Quinn,” he’d said. I immediately knew who he was and why he was here.

“I’m me again?” I asked.

“You’re you again,” he replied. I smiled. And then I realised that meant that Luke was no longer alive.

“I have someone here who insisted on talking to you.” He nodded towards the door. I looked over to see Luke standing there, leaning on the door frame. He was smiling at me, but he didn’t look like the Luke I knew. He looked somehow lighter. Peaceful.

“Luke?”

“Hey, Quinn.”

“Luke!” I tried to sit up. Luke walked over to my bed and sat down on the chair beside me. He helped me sit up and then took both my hands in his.

“I thought you were…”

“I am Quinn. John let me come back just to say goodbye. We never got to say goodbye Quinn, and I couldn’t bear leaving you like that.”

Tears started rolling down my cheeks. I knew. All these weeks, I knew Luke was gone, but somehow, living in his body, even for a little while made him feel like he was still really alive.

“You have to go?” I asked. Luke nodded.

“So, is this where you tell me to be true to myself and live long and prosper or something?”

Luke laughed. “Something like that,” he said. “Quinn, I really want you to know that it was me who needed you. Not the other way around. You’re the brave one, Quinn. You always have been.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.

“Do you remember the day we met?” he asked.

“Sure. You beat up Andy Fitzgerald for picking on me. That’s why I started hanging around you,” I replied. Luke laughed.

“You were the one who stuck up for me, Quinn. I was playing in the sand pit with some new cars I’d gotten for my birthday. Andy came along and took them. I yelled at him, and you just walked up to him and told him to give them back. He called you a girl. Do you remember what you said to him?” Luke asked.

“No.”

“You said ‘I am not a girl’,” Luke said and laughed. I laughed too. What a funny thing to say. “Anyway,” continued Luke, “just having you there standing up for me made me brave enough to stand up for myself. While he was focused on you, I snatched my cars back out of his hands. He was so surprised. He went to hit me, but I got in first. I guess I made his nose bleed because I still had the cars in my hand.”

“I don’t remember it like that,” I said.

“I know you don’t, but I’ve never forgotten that day Quinn.” Luke smiled at me.

John cleared his throat. “Time, Luke,” he said.

“Listen Quinn, I know you’re going to have a tough time over the next few months, but I will be watching over you, I promise. I believe in you, Quinn. I always did and I always will. Never forget that.” Luke leant in and hugged me. It felt like I was hugging air. When he kissed me on the forehead, it felt like the tickle of a feather. When he stood back to look at me, I saw a single tear streak down his cheek.

“I have to go Quinn. I love you,” he said.

“I love you too, Luke,” I said. I watched as he turned and walked through the door.

As per usual, comments are always welcome. I’ll release a few more extracts over the next few weeks.

This Sunday Sesh is brought to you by Cascade Blonde. I’ve had it in the cupboard for awhile from when I bought a Cascade sample pack before Christmas, and since I didn’t want to review all of the Cascades at once, I left […]

This Sunday Sesh is brought to you by Cascade Blonde. I’ve had it in the cupboard for awhile from when I bought a Cascade sample pack before Christmas, and since I didn’t want to review all of the Cascades at once, I left this one til now. Plus, a friend of mine said I should give it a go, so this review’s for you, Alicia.

Cascade Blonde

Firstly, apologies for no Sunday Sesh last weekend. My real job, house stuff, business stuff and a prior engagement all conspired to whittle away most of my time over the last couple of weeks so that I ran out of it, and didn’t get a chance to post a blog.However, I’m back to the beer-reviewing this week.

So, Cascade Blonde.This one’s very fruity and crisp, slightly cloudy in the glass with a frothy head that slides down the glass as you sip. It’s another one that could almost be mistaken for a shandy because of it’s slight bitterness and very little after taste. It’s something you could drink easily in a session and not realise how many you’ve had. Good one for a hot day.

This post was inspired by a young’un I know who came out to all and sundry a little while ago, via facebook, no less. I’ve known her since she was a shy thirteen year-old, and to see her (and the rest of my former soccer team-mates from long times past) grow into the confident and crazy woman she is now is wonderful.

I was in my early twenties when I discovered I was a lesbian (still am, but that’s another story…)

It was at that moment I decided I would be a cat-lady – living by myself with a house full of feral cats in a derelict but eccentric house, terrorising children with my wild hair and icy stare.

Why? Because I would rather be single than run the gauntlet of lesbian dating. When you’re a lesbian, the field of potential partners is vastly smaller than if you’re straight. Plus, there’s always the danger of falling for a straight girl or getting mixed signals from the object of your desire who isn’t entirely sure if she plays for your team, or if she even wants to. (Again, another story for another time).

Granted, being a lesbian on the dating scene is probably easier than being a gay man on the dating scene. You’re far more likely, as a lesbian, to get a positive response from the object of your desire should they be straight, than if you’re a gay guy. Though the response of the object of your affection is in direct proportion with the size of the boyfriend, if she has one.

The other thing I realised early on was that it’s pretty hard to come out when you’re single. Quite simply, people tend not to believe you. They think it’s a phase (though this can happen even if you are with partner), or that you just haven’t met the right bloke yet. I realised pretty early on then, that it’s far easier to just not say anything, unless asked.

Funny thing about these types of decisions when you’re that age – something always happens to turn them upside down.

For me, that was meeting my wife. As she tells it, it was definitely not love at first sight. Me though? Well, she hid my beer (flirty little thing) and then after I cracked open a fresh one, the old one mysteriously reappeared. Kind of like when you’re in primary school and the boy who likes you pulls your hair, not because he hates you, but because he wants you to be his girlfriend.

I figured she wanted me to be her girlfriend, so I pursued her relentlessly. Meaning: I rang her for a ride home at various times in the wee hours when I was blind drunk, and skirted around the issue of my feelings for her. Apparently, as often happens, all our friends knew we liked each other, but we were both too, well, immature I suppose, to admit it. One night, at the pub, we just kind of started holding hands, and it spiralled from there.

Since then it’s been a whirlwind of big moves and overseas trips, a couple of false-start marriage proposals, a wedding, acquiring two gorgeous puppies and making a home together.

Turns out, my lesbian life is a lot different from the one I imagined when I was just coming to terms with my sexuality. Turns out, my relationship isn’t really anything different from my sisters’ relationships with their other halves, or my brother’s with his girlfriend. All that angst early on about not being “normal” was wasted energy.

Now I have bills to pay, a bank to keep happy with regular house payments, and a wife to keep happy with my baking. Not to mention two dogs who act out like spoiled children when we don’t spend time with them. How much more normal can you get?

I guess the lesson here is that if life throws you lemons, you can still have the white picket fence (if that’s what you want).

Today’s Sunday Sesh is brought to you by Cascade Pale Ale. This one was a light golden colour, and a little cloudy in the glass. Smells crisp and fresh, and went down well. Perfect for a stinking hot day on the Ridge. There […]

This one was a light golden colour, and a little cloudy in the glass. Smells crisp and fresh, and went down well. Perfect for a stinking hot day on the Ridge. There was a slightly bitter aftertaste, but not too strong, and it didn’t stick around.

I wouldn’t say no to this one if someone offered me one.

So much to write about this week what with interesting happenings in Aussie cricket, as well as politics. But I want to start off with a rant – just a short one, I promise.

Does this tool make my butt look big? (Photo courtesy the Toowoomba Chronicle)

Every Saturday, there’s a little section in our local paper called “Tradie”. And every bloody weekend there’s a chick holding a tool. This isn’t just a gratuitous shot – it’s an ad for a tool they do a little speil on. They tell you what it is, what it’s used for, and who should use it.

For example, this one’s called a “nibbler” (Hmm, on second thoughts, maybe the model is a good choice…) Tradies that could use it include “shed builders, roofers and sheet fabricators.” Does she look like a shed builder? Or a metal fabricator?

So why does this annoy me so much? Well, I thought we’d grown out of this crap. It’s not Zoo magazine afterall.

Besides, does it really make you take any more interest in the tool she’s holding? Does it make you go “Oooh, I wonder what that tool does”? Do you even notice there’s a tool there somewhere? (Yes, I’m talking about you Lisa.)

I’d be more impressed if they got a real tradie chick to show off the tools. At least she’d actually know how to use it.

I mean, there’s no way she’d be able to use that tool with her nails. Plus, she’s holding it wrong. And she doesn’t even have any other tools in her tool belt.

Look, I know blokes dig chicks holding tools provocatively, but seriously? In a little regional newspaper? The only thing missing here is a little bit more cleavage to get the boys salivating over their morning coffee.

At least she’s got protection though I suppose. Those big tools can cause serious injuries if you’re not careful.

Ok, rant over.

Big news from Aussie cricket – we finally have a coach in South African Mickey Arthur.

Lots of people are up in arms at the thought of a non-Aussie taking the reins, but you know what? That just tells me that our stocks of home-grown coaches are very, very low. Besides, Mickey Arthur plotted our downfall as the South African coach last time the Proteas were out here. He’s done some good things with WA, so I’m interested to see how he goes with rebuilding our team.

I’m hoping he starts leaning on the older players to maybe drop back to state cricket to mentor the younger generation and elevate some of the younger players that have been toiling hard and waiting in the wings for someone to die.

Thanks to a bag full of injuries from the tour of South Africa, we might get to see some of those young guns taking central stage against the Kiwis. Dave Warner looks to finally have his chance to prove he’s not just a 20-over wonder-boy (and put some pressure on Phil Hughes), and we have some new quicks looking to make their mark with Ben Cutting, Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson.

It’s good to finally have some talent in our pace bowling stocks, but the big problem that still haunts us is injuries. And if the new coach can’t work out some way to keep our best on the park when they’re needed most, it’s going to be a long time before we can climb back up to No. 1.

There is one burning question I have though – does having a South African coach mean that whenever the Proteas are playing we should respectfully cheer for them over their opposition, as long as it’s not the Aussies? And does that mean that the South Africans should be doing the same, except in reverse?

What do you think? Happy for a South African to take the top job in Australian sport or not? And the other burning question – should Ricky Ponting call it a day and bow out gracefully in the second test in Hobart?

So, here’s the deal. Three days off has meant no more words added to my Nano novel, and I’m finding it hard to connect with the story again.I’ve also realised I’ve been focussing too much on trying to make this story “good” […]

So, here’s the deal. Three days off has meant no more words added to my Nano novel, and I’m finding it hard to connect with the story again.I’ve also realised I’ve been focussing too much on trying to make this story “good” and “readable” rather than just writing the damn thing and having fun. While I think this story has a chance at life after Nano, I’ve reverted to “pre-Nano writer” and been giving the story too much reverence. I need to get back to Super Writer mode, and fast!

What am I doing to fix this? I’m glad you asked. I’m going to throw my characters out of their comfort-zone.Remember back when I made my random generator? I knew it would eventually come in handy some day (for something other than procrastination).

I’ve picked out a couple of traits from the “specials” box, and I want you to help me choose what I’m going to throw into my Nano novel, just to mix things up abit.

I’ll give you a little bit of background, hopefully without giving too much away.

Quinn (17) and Luke (18) are BFF’s in their final year of high-school. Quinn has just come out to Luke (who incidentally always knew Quinn was a lesbian, but for some reason, never told Quinn). He, of course, pays out on Quinn for her crushes, and makes bad lesbian jokes, as a BFF should do.

As a result of an accident, Quinn’s soul ends up in Luke’s body, so she gets to do things she wouldn’t normally get to do. Things like peeing standing up, crash-tackling her arch-nemesis Josh who plays on Luke’s football team (and who also happens to be the boyfriend of Quinn’s biggest crush), and cracking onto girls without fear of getting slapped – or laughed at.

It stands to reason that while she’s Luke, she discovers a secret Luke has kept hidden even from her.

My problem is – what is Luke’s secret?

That’s where you come in. I’ve put up a snap-poll to help me decide what Luke’s big secret is. Feel free to offer up any other suggestions, or longer reasonings or comments, in the comments section.

I’ll leave the poll up for 24hrs, and then start work on the next part of my Nano novel – tentatively titled “Luke’s Secret” – tomorrow night.

This Sunday Sesh brought to you by Cascade Stout. I’ve cheated a little this week and also in order to get ahead over the next few weeks – I bought a gift pack from Cascade with four of their beers in, so I’ll […]

I’ve cheated a little this week and also in order to get ahead over the next few weeks – I bought a gift pack from Cascade with four of their beers in, so I’ll be reviewing them all over the next month. I’ve heard they make a good brew down in the southern-most state (something to do with the pureness of the water they reckon), and I wasn’t disappointed with this week’s choice.

“Hints of coffee and chocolate”

I’m joined in today’s Sunday’s Sesh with the Little Sister and the Bro-in-law, visiting from the Sunny Coast. They both had a taste of this. Bro-in-law isn’t a beer drinker but thought this one was alright. Little Sis enjoyed this one. She said she couldn’t taste the chocolate but it smelled like it had something in there. And she liked that the aftertaste wasn’t overpowering.

(Caveat: Bro-in-law said Little Sis would like anything with alcohol in it – I’m not sure what the problem is.)

I say this is a pretty good stout. It pours well in the glass with a creamy head, but not too much. It smells a little of chocolate and if you swirl it around in your mouth you can get a hint of the coffee.

This is a pretty heavy one at 1.7 standard drinks – and it feels like it. It goes down well, but probably would be suited more to winter rather than summer. Very much an after dinner beer this one I think.

Having said that, I will be getting this one again.

I was reading over my first couple of Sunday Sesh’s and thought I should do a quick update on the weather front, since the whole point was to bring on Summer.

I think it’s worked. The temps have been climbing pretty steadily the last few weeks, and it’s been perfect beer-drinking weather up here on the Ridge. We have a half-done deck which will be great once it’s finished to enjoy a few cold ones with friends, and I’ve been getting a few tips for beers to review from friends – stay tuned – they’ll be coming up soon.

The rising temps mean that Christmas will soon be upon us. And that means more beer-drinking, water slides, and catching up with rellies and friends.

Which we’ve been doing this weekend, which is why this Sunday Sesh is so short.

It’s also why there’s been no improvement on the word count for my Nano novel since Thursday. Plus, I had another migraine on Friday night – oh the pressure of writing 50,000 words in 30 days.

I was planning on being as close to 35k as I could by tonight, but that’s just gone right out the window. I have another busy couple of weeks coming up so getting 50k is looking further and further away. I do like my story though, and I will get it finished regardless of whether I hit that 50k by the end of the month, so I will still be giving it a good crack. There might have to be some long nights if I want to score some more wagon wheels.

And Wifey has a secret reward planned if I crack the 50k mark so I do really want to get there to see what that is.